


as the sun rises

by thisissirius



Series: Battle Couple [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alliance Rune, Battle Couple, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-04 22:51:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6678568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisissirius/pseuds/thisissirius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“This should make it easier,” Magnus says, pressing his own Marked palm to Alec’s. Alec doesn’t know whether it’s his imagination, but he feels something then, a shudder down his back. </p><p>Alec opens his mouth to say <i>you can take whatever you want</i>, but he can’t make his voice work. </p><p>Magnus stares at him for a beat, and then leans in for another kiss. “You’ll have access to all of my magic.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	as the sun rises

**Author's Note:**

> written for tumblr (of course); someone requested BATTLE COUPLE MALEC and i am nothing if not accommodating for my FAVOURITE THING about magnus/alec. 
> 
> this is unbeta-d and was written in about half an hour, so i apologise on behalf of it. 
> 
> **warning;** some violence and SLIGHT gore (it's not explicit.)
> 
> your mileage may vary re: characterisation but WHATEVER, i'm having feelings about them. 
> 
> enjoy :D :D

##  **battle couple (bat(ə)l kʌp(ə)l)**

_1\. The kind of couple where  if you harm either one, the other will kill you as surely as the sun rises._

 

 

Alec stares at the rune on his palm, traces the Mark with his finger. 

The fight with Valentine is days, hours, minutes away and it should be daunting, but all Alec can think about is the matching Mark on Magnus’ hand. Not weeks ago he was still ignoring the feeling in the pit of his stomach, the way his chest would seize whenever he’d see Magnus. Now he’s going into battle, attached to Magnus in more ways than he ever thought possible. 

Around him, there’s a cacophony of noise; Downworlders and Shadowhunters alike, all preparing in their own way for the battle ahead. He hasn’t seen anyone he knows in a while, having threaded his way through the crowd to find Magnus, to ask him to be his partner. He’s never seen Magnus hesitate to give him something, and this time was no different; Magnus had given Alec his palm without pause, staring down at Alec’s fingers as he’d been Marked. 

With shaking hands, Alec had handed his stele over for Magnus to do the same. He’s not sure if he’s supposed to feel something when it’s done, but nothing changes. He still feels like the same old Alec. Magnus offers him back his stele, but Alec doesn’t take it for a moment, slides a hand around the back of Magnus’ neck instead. He’s braver now than he was back then, comfortable in his skin for the first time in his life. He thinks about that, about the fact that he’s sharing more of himself with Magnus than he ever thought possible and it’s _not frightening_. 

Magnus closes his eyes, lets out a slow breath as Alec kisses him, pulls him closer. They’ve done this so many times and it doesn’t get old; every time feels like the first. Alec’s learning how to get Magnus to make those soft noises in the back of the throat, how to press his tongue in the right ways to make Magnus sink into Alec’s embrace, to clutch at Alec’s jacket. It’s a heady feeling, making someone with Magnus’ age and experience fall apart just because of a _kiss_  and Alec can’t deny that it’s intoxicating. 

When they break the kiss, Alec rests their foreheads together, rubbing his thumb against the line of Magnus’ jaw. “Are you scared?”

Magnus doesn’t say anything for a moment, though he takes Alec’s free hand - his Marked hand - and wraps his fingers around it. “I would be a fool to say no, but I’m not for _me_.”

Alec swallows, knowing exactly what Magnus means. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

It’s not a promise he can make, and the look Magnus gives him is proof enough of that. He still means it, though, with every fibre of being. 

“This should make it easier,” Magnus says, pressing his own Marked palm to Alec’s. Alec doesn’t know whether it’s his imagination, but he feels _something_ then, a shudder down his back. 

Alec opens his mouth to say _you can take whatever you want_ , but he can’t make his voice work. 

Magnus stares at him for a beat, and then leans in for another kiss. “You’ll have access to all of my magic.”

Nodding, Alec curls their fingers together. “You can have - can take whatever you - if I have it, you’ll be able to use it.”

He’s never going to be able to talk to Magnus without sounding like a complete idiot, but Magnus is smiling, eyes crinkling in the way he gets sometimes and Alec’s chest feels tight. “Be careful, Alexander.”

“You too,” Alec says, and means it.

 

 

 

Battles are ugly, dangerous things, and Alec thinks, hysterically, that if he gets out of this one, he’d like to never be in another. What they’ve done before this pales in comparison, has _no_  comparison, and his stomach turns at the stench, at the sounds and sights that assault him. 

Screaming, roars, the crash and deafening slam of metal on metal, the tearing of flesh, the break of bone. Everything is overwhelming and he wants to throw up, to sink to his knees and not get up. He fights the urge, grips his bow in a white-knuckled hold and sinks into the feel of Magnus at his back. 

He doesn’t know how they haven’t been separated; he sees Shadowhunters and Downworlders alike fighting alone, others in groups of three or four, others still in massive waves, crashing against Valentine’s forces like they’re nothing. It’s enough to give him confidence, to make him think _yes_ , but he knows it’s not this easy, that somewhere out there Valentine still has the Mortal Cup - and Jace. 

He’d wanted desperately to be the one to get Jace, his _parabatai_ , but he trusts Clary and Simon, trusts _Izzy_ , and he’s got Magnus. They’re on high ground, the best vantage point for two people who fight better at distance. Alec’s arrows are deadly in their accuracy, thanks to Magnus’ magic - and Alec’s never going to forget _that_ spell - and his quiver is never empty. Tapping into the well of magic is daunting and frightening; something he’s never imagined was ever possible and he has it all at his fingertips. It’s not his, though, and he doesn’t think he can ever explain to anybody how it _feels_ like Magnus, but it does. 

Magnus is panting, fingers glowing with magic as he hurls spell after spell, sometimes in combination with Alec’s arrows, other times to cut down someone getting too close to their corner of the battlefield. He’s tiring, Alec _knows_  it, and steps back a little, feels the warmth of Magnus’s side against his.

“I have a stamina rune,” he says, loosing an arrow and watching it sink into the neck of a Circle goon. He feels the rumble of Magnus’ laughter, watches the spark of blue as it slams into the side of the same goon, knocking him back into the mass of bodies. 

“Oh, darling, I know,” Magnus says quickly. His eyes dart here and there, tracking everything. 

“If you cover me, it will be enough for us both.”

It feels weird, this _sharing_  of powers, but the look on Magnus’ face is intoxicating. He raises his hands, takes a breath. It’s like when he moved the house, the effortless way he does massive spells, like all he has to do is _think_  and it’s done. As Alec watches, a shimmering green dome encompasses the ground they’re standing on. “Do it.”

Alec activates the stamina rune, feels the familiar thrum of energy and watches the shock cross Magnus’ face as he feels it too. It should be weird, uncomfortable, but it’s all Alec can do not to kiss Magnus in the middle of the battlefield. “ _Magnus_.”

“Darling,” Magnus says, like he knows what Alec’s thinking. “As much as I would love to be anywhere else but here, I vote we finish this little fight and then you can do _whatever you like_.”

Little fight, like they’re not fighting for their very lives, but Alec grins maniacally, notches another arrow and nods. “Well, then, dearest, you should lower that shield.”

Laughing, delighted, Magnus does just that.

 

 

 

 

Alec’s flagging. 

The tide is turning in their favour, but it’s not enough. When he has time enough to look, Alec can see the bodies, people he knows, people he doesn’t. His fingers hurt, his body aches, and he feels exhausted. His stamina rune does wonders, but it’s not limitless, and he knows that the more he and Magnus share powers, the worse that exhaustion becomes. 

“Not long now,” he bites out, hoping for levity. 

Magnus barks out a laugh, before stumbling back into Alec as a particularly vicious strike almost lands. Alec’s growls low in his throat, swings his bow around and the arrow beds itself in the demon’s throat. It goes down but another takes it’s place. 

“Will this never end.” Alec knows he sounds petulant, but something has to _give_. 

“Patience, darling.” Magnus sounds strangled, worn down, and his reactions are slower than they were at the start. 

If this doesn’t end soon -

For the first time, Alec is afraid.

 

 

 

 

There’s a roaring in Alec’s ears as Magnus slams into the back of him, a dead weight. When he turns, he sees the blade sticking out of Magnus’ shoulder, the blood already coating his jacket. 

He feels a rage bubble up inside of him, doesn’t even bother with his bow this time. He grabs his Seraph blade. He wants this one _close_. The owner of the blade currently sticking out of _Alec’s boyfriend_  is a former Shadowhunter, a _Circle member_  and Alec’s never felt hatred so strong. Unarmed, the man’s only weapon is his hands - and Alec’s not going to let him get close enough to use them. Driven by anger, he thrusts the blade up into the man’s ribcage. There’s a look of surprise and pain before he yanks it out, watches the man crumple to the floor. Another is already clambering over his fallen comrade, but Alec has anger and something altogether stronger driving him; he doesn’t hesitate to swing the blade in a short, swift arc, watching it slice into the first man, then a woman, _fuck._ He turns back to Magnus and slides his bow back into his hand. He’s notched an arrow, let it loose, grimaced as it buries itself in the former shadowhunter currently looming over Magnus. He needs to protect them both and _quickly_ , otherwise Magnus will-

“How do I-”

“Hands,” Magnus bites out, hands trembling around the blade handle still protruding from his chest. “Think about protection, about shielding.”

Alec takes a deep breath, focuses on Valentine’s forces currently pushing their way up the hill towards them and thinks _no, stay away_. His hands feel warm, then hot, then, like he’s seen so many times on Magnus, blue flame erupts from the palms of his hands. “Fuck-”

“It’s okay,” Magnus says. “Concentrate.”

 _Stay away_ , Alec thinks, and holds his hands palm up. The green shield that Magnus had projected is back, this time dull in colour but no less in size. It shimmers and then solidifies. 

A demon slams into the shield and Alec feels it like pins and needles all over his body. He turns his back, a litany of _stay away stay away_  in his head because he worries that if he stops, the shield will fall. Dropping into the wet, slick mud, he slides back towards Magnus. 

“Shit,” he says, then, “Magnus.”

Magnus looks at him, eyes dull. He dropped the glamour before they even arrived, but his eyes aren’t vibrant and _alive_  anymore. “If I take it out, I’ll bleed out quickly.”

“Okay,” Alec says.

“I can’t,” Magnus says, his mouth grim. “I can’t heal myself.”

“No,” Alec says immediately. “I can do it.”

There’s something in Magnus’ eyes that Alec doesn’t like, and he grips Magnus thigh. There’s another shudder of the shield, and Alec grunts. “Magnus, tell me _what to do_.”

“You can’t hold _that_  up and heal me.” Magnus looks pale under the low light. 

There’s too much noise, thunder roaring in Alec’s ears and he grits his teeth. “Either you tell me how to heal you, or I drop the shield and let them get us _both_.” 

It’s a threat he means, and Magnus looks at him, exasperation warring with a desperate affection. “Alex _ander_.”

“Please,” Alec says, and despite the fact that demons and Circle members alike are thundering against the shield, he leans in closer, presses his mouth to Magnus’s temple. “Help me.”

Letting out a shuddering sigh, Magnus wraps his fingers tighter around the handle of the blade. “If this doesn’t work-”

“It will work,” Alec bites out, because it can’t _not_. He refuses to think about the alternative. “I’ve seen you heal Luke, Jocelyn. I’ve seen you work.”

“Good,” Magnus says. “Just think about healing, about fixing. The magic knows what it’s doing.”

Alec’s sure it’s more involved than that, but he’s not given time to worry about it; Magnus takes a deep breath and then pulls. 

 

 

 

 

There’s no _end_  to the battle. 

Alec’s half expecting someone to just shout that it’s over, that they’re done, but that doesn’t happen. It just _stops_. One minutes there’s fighting, noise, smell and everything is overwhelming, and the next there’s just -

Crying. The sound of people moving through slick mud. A horrible silence that Alec doesn’t think he’ll ever forget. 

“Magnus?”

Alec looks down, at Magnus currently propped up against his chest. The wound in his shoulder is only half-healed, a mangled job because Alec’s not _good_  with magic yet, but he’s awake, though tired. “Alec.”

He sounds too small for such a vibrant person and Alec wishes he could take his blade to every single member of Valentine’s forces. “I don’t know what happens now.”

Magnus presses his face into the crook of Alec’s neck and Alec closes his eyes. “It’s over.”

“Yeah,” Alec says, because he doesn’t want to be here anymore, knows that things have to happen - god, all those _bodies -_ but he doesn’t want to think about that now, not with Magnus ineffectively healed. “You need to heal.”

“Mmm.” Magnus sighs but doesn’t move. Alec kisses his temple, runs his free hand through the hairs at the nape of Magnus’s neck. 

“We make a great team, huh?” Alec adds, because they’re still _alive_  and he didn’t think that he would ever -

Magnus lets out a half-hearted laugh. “We’re never doing this again.”

Alec thinks he can probably let the shield down now it’s over, but part of him wants to stay in this bubble forever, a little piece of _theirs_  away from the trouble and strife of their worlds. “I’ll have to rethink my date plans.”

Another, happier laugh and Magnus pulls back enough to look him in the eye. “You never cease to amaze me, Alexander.”

One day that’s going to get old. Or maybe, hopefully, it never will. 

**Author's Note:**

> i have posted other fics over at my [tumblr](http://thisissirius.tumblr.com) if you wanna see more, though i have a tendency to post them here eventually :P


End file.
